He shared the Nobel Prize in 1975 for his work on the structure and behavior of the atomic nucleus.
He was heralded his nation’s “top gun” over the North African desert in 1942 and 1943.
The former “mountain boy” from North Carolina built an empire of sun-care products, promoting his lotions and oils through star-studded beauty pageants.
As fiction editor, he helped mold the stories of generations of writers. As a sportswriter, he was enshrined in the writers’ wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
She distinguished herself as a hostess, photographer, writer, editor and curator.
His books about the Great Chicago Fire and America’s first epidemic were Newbery Honor winners.
He also scored the films “Blade Runner” and “Missing” and Carl Sagan’s PBS series “Cosmos.”
She assisted the newsroom staff compiling community and cultural events and assisting Metro section columnists with charitable work.
His 1975 novel, "Beyond the Bedroom Wall," was considered among the best of its time.
She led the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force during the AIDS crisis and connected issues of race, class, gender and sexuality.
She helped develop the field of biogeochemistry and showed its power in making discoveries about nature, ecology, the long-term history of living things and the possibilities of life on other worlds.
The mezzo-soprano was known for her roles in works by Mozart and Rossini.
As a vice president at ABC, he helped create "Nightline" and gave the show its name.
He vaulted to literary prominence with a lacerating childhood memoir of abuse and wrote best-selling novels such as "A Reliable Wife.”
He appeared in nearly 90 film and television roles, including as a bumbling repairman in "Tremors" and a movie-studio security chief in "The Player."
He led the oil-rich state of Abu Dhabi and was the second president of the United Arab Emirates.
His Common Concerns bookstore in Washington became a left-wing community resource in the 1980s.
He poked fun at liberal pieties and what he called America's "cultural breakdown."
He was the only official who voluntarily accepted legal blame in the Iran-contra scandal.
The bloody 1992 episode in Idaho helped spark the growth of anti-government extremists.
